Of Cards and Heroines
by meethzoonk
Summary: Why does loneliness strike at the lowest of conditions? With no one by her side, Sakura finds the one person that may lift her up from her distress and quite literally too. [YueSakura slight MirrorCard disguised as Yukito Touya]


Disclaimer : See my stuff? Hah, neither do I. Cardcaptor Sakura belongs to the one and only CLAMP.

Salutations, all stunning readers!! This is my first step in making a CCS fanfic! Whee.

So… odd pairings, huh? Well, my idea of romance and perfect love is completely twisted, so I'll say that almost every love scene I have seen/read is wrong to me. I just try to make even the oddest happen, because that's exactly where the twist is! =P Oh, and the characters have grown, of course, to avoid any ideas of, uh, well, _ideas_.

Anyway, read, enjoy, and most importantly – REVIEW!!

**OF CARDS AND HEROINES**__

Sakura watched silently as the silver orb soared over the starlit sky. It took hours as its luminescent rays proceeded to its full beam, but it never bored her. Nothing about the moon could ever bore her. She could spend hours sitting on the rooftop with her paper and pen and read letters from Syaoran, Eriol and Mizuki-sensei while the moon waned behind the clouds. Eventually, it became quite a habit.

"Dearest... Syaoran," Sakura spoke as she wrote, her pen scribbled furiously against the notebook on her lap. She paused to gaze at the moon, then continued to write.

_Dearest Syaoran,_

_It's only been two months since you left Japan for Hong Kong, but I'm feeling lonely already. Guess what? Tomoyo is performing in Vienna with her choir group! Isn't that sugoi? She said that the Duchess of Austria requested them especially after seeing them perform at the International Choir Championship in Brussel. She left almost a week ago, and I won't be seeing her until next week. I guess the Duchess already has plans for them. I know I'm supposed to be proud of her, and it's not that I'm not, but I'd like it better if she didn't go while you're away. I know she couldn't help it anyway. She seemed so excited when she left._

_Thank you so much for the beautiful pendant you sent me for my birthday, and the fortune cookies too. I loved it, even though Kero ate half of it without asking. He said my powers have been increasing drastically since the dawn of my birthday and that I should learn to control them. I never quite undestood what he meant until I accidentally set my book on fire after a bad fight with Oniichan. As Kero had said, it's all about controlling my emotions, just so that I don't wind up lashing out my powers and destroying the whole city block. He'd been saying that to me everyday, and acting like my private lecturer or something, and since then, somehow I feel that he has grown sort of… distant. I used to think that since we're friends, there wouldn't ever be an awkward moment between us, but apparently I was wrong. I don't know, actually. Maybe I just think too much._

_Oniichan is studying for his finals, and so is Yukito. They've been having intense discussions about Marxism, Leninism, and -- well, everything my mind cannot absorb -- so, I guess that means Yue won't be coming out unless there is trouble. He must obviously know that these exams are important for both of them. Trouble hasn't been here in a long time, not since you left anyway. But now sometimes I find myself wishing for trouble, because trouble glue us together and peace grow us apart._

_Am I writing nonsense? I'm sorry if I am. I don't think I'm sending you this anyway. This isn't what I should be writing to you. It's what I should be writing in my diary. This is just another junk mail to throw away after I'm finished with it. Like how you threw me away after you were finished with me. That's why I want to tell you that I HATE you now. I hate you now for leaving me. I hate you now for not writing to me. I hate you now for not making any possible contact with me besides sending me gifts, which, by the way, was sent without any notes or cards or ANYTHING to prove that you still exist. You ABANDONED me for Hong Kong, for something you wouldn't even tell me. Why? Sometimes I wonder if I'm_

Her pen ceased in mid-sentence as she felt a presence near her. It wasn't human. "Yue," breathed Sakura without turning around, "Is something wrong?"

Yue raised both his eyebrows serenely, impressed by the fact that his Mistress' powers had increased excessively since she turned sixteen. She had never been able to notice his presence before that and was always jumpy everytime he appears from behind.

"Something is always wrong," said Yue, he glided gracefully across the roof and landed beside Sakura with folded wings, arms crossed across his chest. "If something's not wrong with the world, then there's probably something wrong with you."

Sakura felt her heart cringe. "Is there... something wrong with me?"

"Why don't you tell me?" said Yue nonchalantly, he gave her a sideways glance and noticed that her face was slightly paler than usual. He frowned.

Sakura always let her feelings show like a sheet of fine paper, where every single blotch of ink is visible to the naked eye. Yue had known it for weeks, since the first time he saw her sitting on the roof, watching the full moon. The streaks of sadness across her face that night had explained it all, all about her rough patches with Li after his return to Hong Kong, and her fears of being left alone when she is most in need of a companion. He had wanted to talk to her sooner, but Yukito, his temporary form, had been so absorbed in his schoolwork and scientific discussions with Touya, so there really was no time to talk about her even with Cerberus, who was obviously too excited about Sakura's growing powers to be aware of their Mistress' condition.

Yue sighed. "You have nothing to tell?" he said, and it was both a statement and question.

"I could tell you that I'm fine," Sakura started colourlessly.

Yue felt a 'but' struggling to squeeze out.

"And," he egged her.

"And if I want to, I could." she bit her lip, and went on in the same colourless voice. "But I can't tell you things which I know perfectly well aren't true. As much as I want to be fine, I know that I'm not fine, at all. I don't feel fine."

She turned, and looked at him with huge eyes. It reminded him of the way she had looked at him when he had fallen after protecting her from an attack from her blown-up teddy bear back in her fifth grade, when she still wasn't able to support his existence as one of the guardians of Clow Card. Her eyes were huge and full of concern -- which he found extremely foreign. It had startled him at that time that anyone could care _that _much what happened to him. Even Clow Reed never looked at him that way.

The same huge eyes stared back at him now. But these eyes were not filled with concern. It filled only with personal pain endured inside her fragile heart for so long. It pained him to see her like this, yet her eyes startled him still.

He raised a hand unconciously and brushed the side of her face; they were soft, warm, and it felt pleasant. He could feel her strength, coldness, and sadness within the touch, trembling with her every movement like a silent ghost. She was shiverering. "You're.. cold..." he murmured softly, gently stroking her cheek. His hand wandered upwards, and his fingers ran through her hair. It had grown long now, past her shoulders, making the figure of the youth he had once known fade away into time. Yue had never touched anybody's hair before, not unless you count the times Yukito stroked Touya's hair, or rumpled Sakura's with brotherly love. But the hand caressing her hair now was his own, not Yukito's. He marveled how it could be so soft. He wondered if other humans had hair as soft as hers.

Sakura turned her face aside abruptly, breaking contact with the hand on her face. "I-I must've stayed o-outside too long,"

"W-What?"

"You said I was cold. Well, I must've stayed outside too long." she repeated. "It's almost winter now, isn't it? I knew I should've brought my coat here. I think I left it in the kitchen..." Her eyes looked up at the moon again, but this time she was staring at it hard, as if it had offended her.

"Do you want me to bring it here?" said Yue in his elegant silvery voice.

"W-What?"

"Your coat."

"Coat? What – oh! Oh no, no thank you. I'll manage. It's really not _that_ cold, you know!" this time she turned back to him, and he realized her face was flushed. Greatly flushed, as if she had been running a mile without water under broad sunlight. But that would be impossible, considering the climate hadn't been over 20 degrees in a week. Or maybe it was just the cold.

"You're all red."

"Huh – what!?" she went even redder.

Yue placed a hand on her forehead, only to see Sakura's green eyes widened in shock. She was looking straight into Yue's eyes now. They were grey – or were they silver? Well, it didn't matter what colour they were, but they were a fascinating colour indeed. Her heart seem to skip a beat as those eyes bored into hers, gazing at her as if she really mattered. It had been days since anybody looked at her that way. Not since Tomoyo hugged her and said goodbye to her at the airport. That was just days ago, but it had felt like an eternity to her. She had been so sad, so devastated in these past few days, that it never crossed her mind that she would be staring into such fond eyes again until her best friend's return.

Her heart skipped a beat again, and Yue blinked.

"I don't feel anything." he said, sliding his hand off her forehead.

Sakura widened her own eyes, turned, and smiled weakly. "Of course," she said, "of course you don't..." she squeezed her eyes shut, and rested her chin on her knees. She felt her loneliness creep up again, in a slow and steady way.

A gust of cold breeze came over them, and (as cliché as it might be) blew Sakura's hair back. Tassled chestnut locks that were slightly below her ear when she was a girl now flew around her in long, healthy tresses. Sakura only moved her hand to brush her hair away from her face, and tucked them behind her ear. However, this simple move made Yue aware suddenly of how small she was, small and slender like the first time he saw her as a little girl. _But she's not a little girl_, Yue thought silently to himself, _she's sixteen_.

And, sixteen always brings a young woman, doesn't it?

_Yes_, his mind bluntly answered, _it does_.

Sakura slowly raised her head. "So.. why did you come here, Yue? Wasn't Yukito studying with my brother?"

"True," replied Yue in what he thought was a flat tone. "But then he decided to go to the bathroom where I was free to take over him."

"You took over him?" Sakura looked surprised, and for a moment, the sadness in her eyes was swept away by amazement. "But what if oniichan finds out? Won't he feel suspicious if Yukito is away for too long?"

"You want me to leave, then?"

Sakura seemed flustered by the sudden reply, "Well, of course _not_ -- it's not _that_, but --"

"Then I suggest you calm down."

"I _can't_."

Yue looked at her in surprise. She looked determined. "And why not?"

"I don't know," Sakura said, "It's just this feeling I get, a feeling that something's going to happen, and it's not anything nice."

"Not anything nice?" echoed Yue, "Is it... signs of trouble?"

She shook her head. "It's not like the troubles we've had, nothing magical." she said, "The feeling just came with my loneliness, and I feel that it'll wash away with it as well. I don't know what it is. All I know that it's happening soon, and I.. I won't like it."

Yue nodded understandingly, "Cerberus was right, your powers are indeed rising rapidly. It's rather impressive."

"Of _course_ he was right. That's all he sees in me these days." said Sakura bitterly. "He doesn't even try to see beyond that. He forgets that I was once his friend, not his best student of magic or something. I used to smile at him when he gave orders for me to do this and that. I used to think it was funny, you know. Kero, being so small and dictating. But now, I can't find a reason to smile at anything he says. He's just isn't that funny anymore. All he cares now is how I battle, and how to make me the strongest. I can't stand my rising powers."

"You are the Mistress," said Yue, "you can stop him."

"I don't want to. He's Kero. My _friend_."

"Friend?" Yue suddenly looked insulted. Noting the look that suddenly came in his eyes, Sakura added;

"Kero is my _friend_, and _I_ don't think myself as his Mistress either. It has always been like that." she said, and Yue looked even more insulted, though it did not clearly showed in his face. "You are my friend too, Yue. And it would be nice if you thought of me as your friend as well, not as your _Mistress_." she pretended to make a face and laughed.

Yue found no words to reply to this. It had all made him feel so... nice, and grateful even – two feelings that has never been a personal favourite for him.

Sakura suddenly stood up, and brushed the dust off her front. "It's getting late, I should be going now."

"Wait," Yue said before he could stop himself. "It's been weeks since you've sit here, night after nights, always watching the moon. If it could heal you that way, then maybe I can help."

"Help? No one can help me, Yu – aargh!! Yue!!"

But it was too late to struggle. Yue had already bent down, took his arm behind her knees and scooped her up in his arms. Sakura had no choice but to hold on to him, and she flung her arms around his neck – more in astonishment than willing, that is.

"Did I surprise you?" asked Yue, and to Sakura's amazement, he sounded completely innocent.

"Yes, you did!" she blurted out.

"Then forgive me."

"I-I.. I already did." she answered weakly.

A soft flap of wings were heard, and Sakura knew, that within moments they would be airborne. She glanced sideways and saw that Yue had outstretched his wings to the limit. She had always admired Yue, and his wings too. His wings were not at all like hers when she used the Fly Card, nor was it alike the wings of birds, or even like wings of Kero in his true form. They were more graceful, more elegant, and they flapped almost without a sound, emitting a gentle wind beneath it. He had all the features of what an angel would look like. To her, he really was her guardian angel. She remembered thinking what luck she had to have an angel show itself the first time Yue appeared before her, but then squashed the thought out after remembering what happened to Yuki – Sakura suddenly gasped as if she had just realized something.

"Yue!" she said, seconds before Yue took off in flight. "Oniichan! Oniichan is still waiting for Yukito! Is it wise to let him wait so long? He will really get suspicious about it if you don't – "

"You have the Mirror Card, have you not?" Yue said simply.

Sakura nodded.

"Then use it."

***

Touya Kinomoto spun his pen with his fingers for the tenth time in the past five minutes and collapsed on the table in front of him. He had spent the past half hour (or maybe more) waiting for Yukito to return from his visit to the bathroom. It was strange, actually. He never knew his friend was so fond of the bathroom. If it was the kitchen it would be a different matter. If it was the kitchen he would expect Yukito to be attacking the fridge. The bathroom, however, has never been a special place for Yukito. Unless he ate too much. But Yukito _never_ ate too much. His appetite had always been the same – monstrous, with at least five servings at every mealtimes.

Touya spun his pen again, and it fell to the floor. He glared at it without any intentions to pick it up. "Yuki!!" he yelled into the house. "Whatever obscenity you're performing in the bathroom is none of my business, but it bloody will be if you keep me hanging here for another goddamn minute!!"

No answer.

"Oy!" he yelled again, "Yukito!!"

Still no answer.

"Okay, then!" Touya said loudly, standing up as he talked. "I'm standing up! I walking now, and stay where you are! I'm going to the bathroom to pick you up!"

Touya started walking, very steadily. "I'm still walking!" he shouted after two dainty steps, "I'm coming through the hallway. I am walking quickly – yes, Yuki – I am walking _very_ quickly! I'm walking so quickly Flash Gordon wouldn't even outrun me. I'm walking past the television – hey, you haven't turned it off you lazy dog. But I will ignore it, because I'm coming to get you. I'm coming to ge – "

"T-Touya?" gasped Yukito as he rounded around the corner. "Oh, Touya!" he repeated a little too enthusiastically.

"Why, Yuki." Touya said in an amused voice, "What happy face you have. I would've thought that after your encounter with the toilet seat for over half an hour you would come out with a sore behind, slouched, and walk with your knuckles brushing the floor."

"I'm sorry" apologized Yukito immediately. "I left the bathroom ages ago, but then I went outside to – uh – get a little bit of fresh air. I'm sorry."

Touya groaned, then stared at him before raising his fist. Yukito shut his eyes, prepared for the worst but – _flick_!

He flicked him on the forehead. He opened his eyes and saw Touya glaring at him, but in a very affectionate way. "Dammit, Yuki." he scolded him, "You should've told me. I would've joined you. God, we _all_ could use some fresh air around here after reading through Karl Marx's psychotic mind."

"I'm sorry." Yukito said again. "I'm sorry for not telling you first."

Touya raised both his eyebrows wonderingly, "Hey, why are you so apologetic all of a sudden?"

"Because – er – am I?"

Touya lowered his eyes on him. "_Yes_." he said fervently "And you're not acting at all like yourself. Was it freezing outside? Maybe the cold have unhinged a bolt or two in your mind or something.. hey, wait a second.." he leveled his eyes with his and leaned closer until their noses were less than a centimeter apart. Yukito tried to hold down a blush, but it was no use. He flushed all over and prayed silently that Touya wouldn't notice.

"Hey," repeated Touya, still staring at him. "you're not Yukito, aren't you?"

***

"Are you sure oniichan will be alright with the Mirror Card?"

"He might find out, but he will pretend he didn't know a thing. Hold on to me, please."

"_What_!?"

"You're not holding on to me. And with both your hands, if you please."

"He _knows_!?"

"He's your brother. You do trust him, don't you?"

"W-Well, yes, but – "

"Along, then."

"Is it true? Has he always been like that?"

"I promised not to tell."

"So he _does_ know! He knows _everything_?"

"I promised not to tell."

"Yue, I can _order_ you."

"Of course, not. You won't order me to break a promise."

"Oh, yes I ca – oh my God! Yue, look out!"

"Relax, it's only a thunder cloud. Now please hold on to me like I have told you or you will fall."

Sakura tightened her grasp around him, her hands knotted across his back, and whispered softly; "There.. happy?"

"Yes" said Yue, just as softly.

She didn't hear him.

***

Touya drank into his mug deeply, then slammed it hard on the table, making the books clutter noisily. "Oops, sorry. I didn't mean that. Please drink your tea before it gets cold."

Mirror-Yukito stared hard at his mug but didn't dare take it.

"We've met before, haven't we?" said Touya conversationally, pushing his empty tea mug aside with his study papers. "Three times, to be exact, and that was over five years ago. But I've never seen you in _this_ form. I must admit I'm surprised."

"I used your present." mirror-Yukito said, his eyes still glued at his mug as he reminisced the day Touya gave her (then disguised as Sakura) long, beautiful ribbons as a christmas present. "All the time. I wish I could show them to you now, but I've been told to use this form until they come back."

"You like it?"

"I _loved_ it." This time he looked up as he said it, and was very surprised to see Touya smile at him. A severe pounding in his chest made him realize how much he had missed the sincere smile that had haunted his thoughts so many times.

"I'm very glad you liked it." Touya said cheerfully, still smiling very brightly. "You're staying long?"

"I don't know.."

"I hope you do. It isn't everyday I meet you, you know. We have so much to talk about."

Mirror-Yukito took his tea mug and drained it happily. He felt a delightful bubble of joy surrounding him.

***

"Open your eyes," whispered Yue. "This is what you've been watching for weeks isn't it? This is what you want, isn't it?"

Sakura opened her eyes, turned, and gasped at the awe-inspiring sight in front of her. The moon, bigger than she had ever seen it. "Where.. where are we, Yue? Are we in outer space?"

Yue shook his head, "No, I can't take you there. We're in sky's most outer layer, though."

Sakura took another gasp of wonder, "I'm so glad it's the full moon.."

Yue had to agree with her. After all, his powers are the highest at the full moon. He was created on a night of the full moon too, and he remembered Clow saying, _'Beautiful Yue, beautiful moon. You may be the King of the night, or Emperor of the dark, but inside you are just a magnificent desolation.'_ And he was right. He was exactly what Clow had said : a beautifully bizarre emptiness with a breath of life.

Yue was very empty indeed.

"Yue,"

Yue raised an eyebrow at Sakura, who was clutching him tightly by his robes.

"I can fly by myself, you know. You forget I'm owner of the Cards." she pulled herself up to unzip her side-pocket and showed a handful of Sakura Cards peeking from inside, "See? I bring them all the time. I – "

She stopped, and looked astonished, as if shocked. Yue realized only a short amount of air separated their faces, and he realized that his throat suddenly felt dry. A tone of tension suddenly filled the void inside him. But as he leaned closer, the tension altered in a way he couldn't name; he saw her half-startled expression as he lowered his face to hers, saw her eyes close as they closed the space between them, saw his hair fall on her face, and then his cold mouth met her own – her lips were like ice, rapidly warming to the temparature of his own blood, filling his abyss and burning it from inside.

Suddenly Yue didn't feel empty anymore. Suddenly he felt complete.

The kiss broke slightly, and both of them shivered uncontrollably. Neither could control the pounding of their hearts, the unsteady rise and fall of their chests, the yearning in their –

Yue widened his eyes in horror, and raised his head abruptly. _Clow,_ he thought bewilderedly, _Clow.. what's happening to me? What did I just did to her? I can't let this.. I can't.. Clow. Help me undo this, Clow..._

"Yue… I–I think I –"

"Forgive me for what I did – I did what my body told me to, I didn't mean to do you harm." he quickly reached into Sakura's open pocket and drew out the Erase Card. "_Forget_ everything I did – and said – to you today! Please _forget_, and never remember... _Erase_!!"

Before Sakura could do anything or even utter a single word, the Card glowed slightly, and the Erase Card jester jumped out into reality. The jester flicked her hand, and swiped her memory completely. Sakura gave a small cry of resistance before limping softly in Yue's arms. "No..." she whispered softly, and her eyes bowed to a sleep.

"I'm sorry.." said Yue, and he embraced her for what he hoped to be the first, and last time.

***

Yue soared through the air and landed swiftly on the roof. He realized that someone had already been waiting for him.

"You," he said coldly, "The Mirror Card."

Mirror-Yukito took no notice of him. His eyes turned as wide as saucers as he saw the limp body of Sakura in Yue's arms.

"What happened?" asked mirror-Yukito, "What happened to _her_?"

"She's fine," answered Yue, his eyes studying the idle yet sweet expression on Sakura's face, "She's just... sleeping."

"What? Sleeping? You didn't do.. _anything_ to her, did you?"

"In fact, I did."

"_What_?"

"I kissed her." Yue said without the slightest trace of embarassment.

Mirror-Yukito widened his eyes in shock. Of all people -- Yue? He opened his mouth again to say '_What?_' but he realized it was becoming repetition, so instead, he blurted out, "What did it feel like?"

Yue raised an elegant eyebrow, "Excuse me?"

"What did it feel like?" he asked again, edging closer towards the other man. "I mean, was it nice? Did you like it? _Why_ did you do it?"

Now Yue was frowning. He had never been asked so many questions at the same time before. "In that order; it was.." he instinctively turned to the sleeping girl in his arms, and stopped. Her brown hair tangled freely across her face and neck like a tumbling waterfall. The pure innocence that radiated from her was a breath-taking sight itself. Yue took a deep breath. "It was… moisty, if I did remember clearly. I don't know if I liked it or not, and I don't know why I did it." he turned back to mirror-Yukito who wore a naughty grin on his face, which made Yue frown even deeper. "It's hard.. to explain."

Mirror-Yukito suddenly blushed, "Oh, yes. I know that feeling too. It _is_ very hard to explain."

"It is?"

"Yes, it is."

"I never thought you felt the same way about her."

"Oh no!" mirror-Yukito waved his hands in front of his face, "Not to thy Mistress -- but I admit, it is quite close to her."

Yue made a sound – which mirror-Yukito might have called a grunt, if not done with such dignity – and said, "Touya Kinomoto, I presume?"

The other man looked slightly surprised, and then nodded slowly, a faint smile on his lips. "This is our fourth meeting," he said happily, "This time he didn't recognize me straight away though, which was quite disappointing--"

"That's because he gave his powers to me."

"I know that," said mirror-Yukito, "It's all right, really. He still has a fine instinct, and he realized I wasn't Yukito just minutes after we met. But.." he broke off, and his eyes lightened up oddly. ".. it's nice to see him look at me in a different way."

"He was looking at Yukito," pointed out Yue. "not you."

The light in his eyes vanished, and now they were faraway. His lips formed a tight line, and he hung his head sadly, "I know.."

"Do you realize you're competing against something you could never defeat? You are just a mere Card, you are no match for humans. You are not of their kind."

"'Tis a cruel fate. But the same goes to you too, doesn't it?"

"I wouldn't be saying this if did not know that, would I?" snapped Yue. "They are too faraway for us. She is a heroine, and I am just a Guardian for her Cards. He is a man of a strong mind, and you are just a Card. We come from different worlds. It is wrong, wrong for us to let this… undescribable feeling flow through our blood and veins like poison. We cannot barter what Clow has destined us to be for the favors of those we cannot love. They do not belong in our world, nor do us in theirs. That's why I cast the Eraser Card on her," he turned back to Sakura, "so she won't remember what I did to her tonight.."

"If you knew that, then why did you do that to her? If you knew it was forbidden, then why do it at all?" said mirror-Yukito.

Yue replied without looking at him. "I told you, I don't know why I did it."

"Yes, you do." Mirror-Yukito said quietly. "You love her, that's what. You might not even know it, but you do. And don't say you don't because I can tell. I have feelings for others too, let me tell you, but I'm not questioning why. You can't question why you love someone, you just _know_. What you should question is why you cast the Eraser Card on her. It's a shame, Yue. _Damn_, it's a shame."

"It might be shameful," said Yue darkly, "but that's what I want. I may love her as you told me, but the last thing I want to do is cross the lines and boundaries that has been set between us. I will never shift from what Clow Reed has told me to do. I will always be her Card's Guardian until the day I am destroyed."

"Even if she loved you back?"

"She won't." Yue answered with a tone finality in his voice.

Mirror-Yukito sighed deeply, "Fine. I can't argue with that."

"No, you can't." said Yue, knitting his eyebrows together as if in annoyance. "Since we have nothing more to discuss, you should change back into your true form. It's a bit disturbing to see an image of my temporary self hovering in front of me."

He smiled, "I understand. Especially when that disturbing image starts talking back to you."

"How right you are."

Mirror-Yukito closed his eyes, therefore, his image dissolved into the air, whereas a maiden with long, fair hair, clutching a spherical mirror tightly in her hands appeared in his place. A smaller, but identical, mirror, glinted faintly on her forehead. Her long lashes quivered a little, before they fluttered to reveal a pair of deep, trusting eyes. Of course, inhuman beauty was a common distinguishment among the Cards and its Guardians.

The Mirror Card gave Yue a sideways glance and smiled. "Are you going to wake her up?" she nodded her head towards the sleeping girl in Yue's arms. "I do believe the charm you put on her is about to wear off. She could wake up any moment now and not remember a thing about tonight. But she will be free again, like the way she used to feel. You will hear her laugh again, and it will last for a long, long time."

"No." he retorted stiffly. "I won't wake her up."

"No?"

"She is tired, and needs much sleep. I will carry her to bed."

The Mirror Card seemed highly amused, "Really?"

"I will carry her to bed – and leave her there, while I leave." Yue insisted.

She looked doubtful, but Yue chose to ignore her.

"She has been through much difficulties; the personal problem with Clow's descendant, living through phases of her maturing soul, controlling her rising powers, et alia. But she's done with that now." Yue almost smiled. The thought of hearing Sakura's laughter after weeks without it comforted him in a strange way. "It must be hard, but she settled it perfectly."

"Of course she did," said the Mirror Card. She closed her eyes once again, her form willowed away into gusts of smoke, and she disappeared into her Card, leaving an echo of her voice to continue where she left off, "She is, after all, our _heroine_."

**+FIN+**

**- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -**

Huge thanks to annonymouse who supplied for the 'Flash Gordon' part.

**References:**

_"Forgive me for what I did – I did what my body told me to, I didn't mean to do you harm."_   - adapted from a certain Weezer song, and slightly modificated at that. Come on Weezer readers, you know what song this is!


End file.
